Charleston, SC

Visiting friends for Thanksgiving weekend - its my first time in Charleston and all I can say is WOW what a beautiful city. The architecture is amazing, the restaurants are great, the gardens are spectacular, it was 80 degrees today! \
If you haven''t been before, I highly recommend it.

I love Charleston at Thanksgiving. Holiday decorations are going up..but still warm weather.

Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA are the two sexiest cities in the US.

What''s it like there for we gays?

Charleston and Savannah both love the gays. The gays made both cities what they are. You don''t think straight people could do up two towns as beautifully as those two are, do you?

It''s where they invented the dance you know.

Savannah is not sexy...unless you''re a binge eater who has a fetish for handicrafts. I went there over Labor Day with family, and with the exception of one hot guy in a park, I was completely underwhelmed.

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Actually r5, i think the SHAG was really the one invented there.

R6, the city is sexy. Not necessarily the inhabitants/tourists.\
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I''m happy to go there from time to time and be one of the unsexy people in a beautiful city.

There are sexy students at SCAD, Savannah College of Art and Design. And they have a great gift shop with affordable and original art pieces by the students. %0D\
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Great restaurants in both cities esp. if you like "mommy" food.%0D\
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And Charleston is a fun place for High Tea with cream cakes and all the trimmings. When we were there about 6 years ago my bf and I saw Sandra Bullock in one of those tea rooms, she has (or had) a house there.%0D\
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R6 is just mad because no one paid him one iota of attention because he was most likely acting as if he was far better than everyone else.

What is mommy food?

Actually, the Shag was invented in Myrtle Beach, SC about 90 minutes north of Charleston.\
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I''ve been to both Savannah and Charleston and prefer Charleston.

Evil and death built the beauty that is Charleston. During the first generation of its existence, the annual death rate there was one-third. One third of the people who were there in January would be dead by December. Year after year after year. Flood, rains, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, plagues, revolts, wars, pirates, crime, bad food, polluted water, the brutality of the slave system and the Code Duello..... A terrible place haunted by ghosts of the expendables.

Beauty=Death and Evil in the USA

Fires, I forgot fires

R11, I assume mommy food is "comfort food". The stuff you grew up on, if you grew up in a home with a mother who was a good cook. Mac & Cheese, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, that sort of thing. Southern food in other words.

If all you ate in Savannah was "mommyfood", you weren''t doing it right.\
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Seafood, seafood, and seafood done with confidence in the old dishes and creativity in new recipes.

I''ll stay in Manhattan, thank you. These two cities have nothing to offer me that I can''t get here.

R18 - what a sad statement. I feel sorry for you.

I had a delicious dinner of Southern fried and breaded alligator in Charleston and I''ve never forgotten it.

Charleston is indeed beautiful, and the statements about the horrors of the 18th (and also 19th) century are correct. Great restaurants, good beaches close by, some cruising (still, I suppose) around the Battery. Gays are accepted, but only highly closeted ones, or at least super discrete. Very closed society, even if many are on the down low in one way or another. Hot metrosexual dads and their wives strive to send their children to Cotillion. Historic Episcopal churches aligned with the right wing.%0D\
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Does this sound like a place you''d choose to live?

I''m really lucky. \
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When I turned 21, some friends convinced me to move to Chaz. \
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Loved it. \
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Made great friends, ate great food cheap (there was a J&W culinary school) and lived in a great apartment in downtown for 1/17th of my current rent in NYC. \
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I''ve only been back about 5 times the last 15 years, but every time I visit the urge to just pack up and move back is almost overwhelming!\
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Say what you will about the South, but having EVERYONE hold the door for you, say "yes, sir" to every query, and being generally friendly at all times is a powerful drug.

What''s the nightlife like for gays?

Haven''t been back in a while, but for many years there have been two or possibly three gay bars....one a big dance bar where everyone goes, one a small beer bar on upper King St., sometimes a mostly African American bar. The charm of southern gay bars is that since there are few, they tend to be inclusive. Always a drag show on Sunday night for that crowd, no separate lesbian bar, etc.

R-22

Think good thoughts, R19. Maybe R18 will be in one of the next buildings to implode.

R26, typical violent southern chauvinism.%0D

[quote]Evil and death built the beauty that is Charleston. During the first generation of its existence, the annual death rate there was one-third. One third of the people who were there in January would be dead by December. Year after year after year. Flood, rains, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, plagues, revolts, wars, pirates, crime, bad food, polluted water, the brutality of the slave system and the Code Duello..... A terrible place haunted by ghosts of the expendables.\
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Thank you, Paul Winfield

Fuck off faggot racist at r28.

Both are quaint little places inhabited by insufferable revisionist mommas boys who lack a sense of reality...as exhibited in these boorish posts.

Phila Delfine

Well I nevah! I''m showah that R18, R27, and R30''s mamas were nothin'' but sorry up nawth waitresses! Either way, they are all just vile, sorry lil'' bitches!\
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I wish papa was still alive. He''d teach you New Yawk trash a thing or two.\
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John...........JOHN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Charlotte Hollings

As for the gay nightlife question, no gay center or strip - one saloon off King St called "Dudley''s" that I suppose is ok. Next door is a weekends-only dance club called "Parthenon" that actually is a lot of fun but some reason is a go-to destination for bachelorette parties. But the atmosphere is so much fun and inclusive and people are very friendly & polite. After living in DC & NYC it was very refreshing.

bump

I see they''re having a Succession Ball next year, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of South Carolina''s beginning the War of Northern Aggression. I imagine some of you are not invited, and you know who you ahh.

R13: If you have to break a few bones to make a lovely portico, so be it.

you mean secession, r34

Yes, but I''m from the South, so it''s OK.

r34

My gf and I went down to Charleston last month for our anniversary. I have some family that lives down there and I''ve always loved visiting. It was Halloween weekend and we had a blast. Its such a charming place and really beautiful. We were actually very surprised to see quite a few gay and lesbian couples walking hand and hand around the downtown historic district. We wanted to check out the gay nightlife so went to Dudley''s on Saturday night. The owner came over and introduced himself to us and hung out for a while. Very nice guy. The bartenders and the rest of the clientele were really friendly too. We didn''t even try to go to Pantheon because the line was out the door and we were told there was at least an hour and half wait to get in. Overall, I found Charleston to be very gay friendly. To be honest, I''d like to relocate but the gf needs more convincing.

CT girl

R38, are you aware of the ghastly high humidity and high heat for many months of the year in Charleston?%0D\
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Charleston would be a great place without the horrid humidity and heat.

[r39] I prefer that to these horribly cold winters we have up here in CT. I''m so over the snow and ice and having to commute to work in that bullshit. Haha.

CT girl

[quote]What''s it like there for we gays?\
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Oh, dear.

It''s twee for wee gay guys.

Some day you will call come to see South Carolina for more than what the national media projects it to be. Charleston is definitely gay friendly! Had a couple of hookups down there. What could be better than living in a state whose major football team is called the "Cocks"!?

Anon

All the hotties in Charleston are at the Citadel.%0D\
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I''ve been to South Carolina many times (Greenville, Spartanburg, Columbia, Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Florence) and not only is it not gay friendly, but it continues to celebrate cockfighting and other blood sports.%0D

Oh fuck off and die R44, you pathetic fool. You act as if no other place on earth has bad people. You''re a dumbass who knows nothing so slither away like the little snake you are.

Your strawman isn''t flying R45. Lindsey Graham ring any bells with you? Bob Jones University? What happens with gays in South Carolina is....they leave (see Armistead Maupin). Indeed all South Carolinians with ambition and intelligence...leave. So the locals have developed a hyper sensitive idea that being ignorant and hateful is what makes them special. Since places like New York and Atlanta are filled with gays, then being gay is against local culture! Now the only place this theory hasn''t held is Myrtle Beach, where you can see rainbow flags openly served. But you will not see that in Charleston; in Columbia; in Greenville; in Spartanburg; in Florence; in Aiken; in Camden; in Clemson; etc. All these places have gays, but so beat down are most of them that many times they vote against gay rights themselves!

Hmmm. I have a couple of gay friends who live in Charleston and they don''t quite describe it that way. They are from there and are both in their twenties. It''s definitely a bit conservative, like all of the south, but seems a lot more sophisticated than the rest of S. Carolina.

bump

I'm going to be visiting at the end of March. Anyone have recommendations for places to see and check out antiques that are not to be missed?

You can keep Charleston and the rest of that dumpster of a state.

I know Charleston is beautiful and special. People who complain that Manhattan or DC are becoming more homogenized should see what it has to offer that is beautifully preserved.
Charleston does have a dark side. A friend of mine -- black woman, very beautiful, smart and conscientious/responsible -- was a news reporter there. She wanted to report on crime, poverty and fraud (funny, I typed this "fraus") outside the historic center. The city fathers and the station owners did not want anything getting out and hurting tourism. Essentially shut her down and rode her out of town.
A lot of charm, coverups and privilege down there.

Well if it's nice then we northerners should buy up all the properties and go live there. Make it blue.

The only problem with Charleston is where it is. South Carolina is a miserable, poor, inbred state.
Disgusting!

South Carolina is a laughingstock, but I understand Charleston is really lovely.

OP I make it down to Charleston once or twice a year to visit family. It is one of my favorite places to go on vacation. The weather can still be quite nice even this time of year. There are a ton of shops in the downtown historic district. You are better off just taking a stroll around. I'm confident you'll find some really neat antique and art galleries.
Do yourself a favor and order a free visitor's brochure from the Charleston website too. They'll mail it out to you so you can start planning.

Charleston was originally named Charles Town but after the Revolution they changed the name. Savannah was named after Charles's daughter.

Jesus fucking Christ, you pretentious NYers. Shut the fuck up. What does anywhere except my shit little island and crack-addled boroughs have to offer? For such culture savants, you clearly don't own passports. Yeah, you have museums and overpriced restaurants but you spend a year's salary to live in a shoe box so you can fulfill your Carrie Bradshaw fantasies. Enough. You have terrible beaches, a bunch of angry, overworked people, and if a shoebox wasn't available, you are forced to commute half a work day to get to your trashy rancher in North Jersey. I, on the other hand, enjoyed a 3 (yes, 3) minute commute to my hospital job, 12 minute drive to a gorgeous beach that I could lounge on 8 months of the year, and will have my 2,400 sq.ft. house paid off within 6 years on a nurse's salary. Suck on those nuts.